May 2
May 2
John B. Jones becomes major in Texas Rangers
John B. Jones begins his adventurous career as a lawman with an appointment as a major in the Texas Rangers. Born in Fairfield District, South Carolina, in 1834, Jones moved…
A Year In History: 1874
This Year in History:
1874
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
June 8
June 8
Apache chief Cochise dies
Chief Cochise, one of the great leaders of the Apache Indians in their battles with the Anglo‑Americans, dies on the Chiricahua reservation in southeastern Arizona. Little is known of Cochise’s…
June 27
June 27
Buffalo hunters and Indians clash at Adobe Walls
Using new high‑powered rifles to devastating effect, 28 buffalo hunters repulse a much larger force of attacking Indians at an old trading post in the Texas panhandle called Adobe Walls.…
August 6
August 6
Belle Starr’s first husband slain
Law officers kill Jim Reed, the first husband of the famous bandit queen Belle Starr. Reed’s main claim to fame came from his marriage to Myra Maybelle Shirley, better known…
August 10
August 10
Herbert Hoover is born
Future President Herbert Hoover is born on this day in 1874 in West Branch, Iowa. After being tragically orphaned at the age of nine, Hoover lived with his uncle, attended…
November 23
November 23
Far from the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy, is published
On this day, Thomas Hardy’s novel Far from the Madding Crowd is published. In the novel, farm owner Bathsheba Everdene is courted by three suitors, each showing a different face…
November 30
November 30
Winston Churchill born
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, is born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. Churchill…
December 14
December 14
Burglar confesses to high‑profile kidnapping case
A botched burglary attempt further clouds one of the earliest kidnap‑for‑ransom cases. As he was about to go to bed, wealthy New Yorker Holmes Van Brunt heard burglars breaking into…
